The biggest betch of 2006 is still strutting her stuff all these years later. On June 9, 2024, comedian Liam Kyle Sullivan adopted his alter ego Kelly to perform the song “Shoes” at the L.A. Pride Parade.

Sullivan was one of YouTube’s earliest viral stars, and “Shoes” is his undisputed magnum opus. In the guise of Kelly, Sullivan sings about what she wants (shoes) and where she wants to go (to the store, to try on more shoes). With its wealth of quotable lines (“con-dams”) and Sullivan’s perfect portrayal of a stereotypical valley girl, “Shoes” vaulted its creator to internet fame. It has received more than 69 million views to date.

“Shoes” is so old that Sullivan’s video celebrating the song’s ten-year anniversary is itself approaching its ten-year anniversary. But the video’s age and its creator’s sporadic output on YouTube haven’t blunted the cultural impact of “Shoes,” and during Pride Month, Sullivan got a chance to show that there’s still plenty of love out there for Kelly.

In recent years, L.A. Pride has become a hotbed for queer creators, and Sullivan got a spot on the docket in 2024. He (or rather Kelly) performed “Shoes” in front of a rapturous audience. On X, one attendee called the performance “the best moment of my life.”

There is little resemblance between the YouTube of 2006 and the platform as it exists today, so it’s nice to see a pioneer like Sullivan get kudos for his signature song. If the Pride revival of “Shoes” only leaves you wanting more Kelly, then I have good news for you: Sullivan’s character is available for bookings on Cameo.

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On June 2, 2024, a standing-room-only crowd packed into the 2,695-seat Palace Theatre in Columbus, Ohio. The headliners of the event were Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal, who had arrived in Columbus for the fifth date in a nine-city springtime swing.

The Good Mythical Tour, as the event series is known, is the first-ever live tour for the duo known as Rhett and Link. The lifelong friends embarked on their journey to capitalize on the success of Good Mythical Morning, the live show that arrives on YouTube each weekday around 6 AM ET.

As far as YouTube morning shows go, Good Mythical Morning is an unparalleled success story. When Rhett and Link got their start on YouTube in 2006, their initial output consisted of comedic fare, including sketches and music videos. Their clever, polished productions drew attention from brands, but they soon found a format that offered even more creative potential.

The first episode of Good Mythical Morning aired in 2012. Nine years later, the show aired its 2000th episode. The channel that hosts Good Mythical Morning has brought in more than 9.4 billion lifetime views, with fans (or “Mythical Beasts,” as they’re known in Rhett and Link parlance) flocking to recurring segments like taste tests, challenges, and the whimsical Wheel of Mythicality.

“It’s not like a typical YouTube upload schedule, which is whenever the video’s done, it gets posted,” Rhett and Link told Deadline in a recent interview. “We see it as something you can incorporate in your life and depend on, in the way that people could depend on their favorite TV shows in history.”

The Good Mythical Tour takes viewers into the production of an episode of GMM. Rhett and Link welcome guests to the stage while their longtime partner-in-crime Stevie Wynne Levine takes on the same “voice of god” role she occupies on YouTube  (except this time, she’s behind the stage, not behind the camera).

The Columbus show included localized versions of longtime GMM segments, including a taste test of multiple buckeye candy-flavored ice creams. In other cases, the stars of the tour had to carry the show themselves. At one point, Neal gave Levine anxiety by playing with a knife on stage. A few minutes later, McLaughlin debuted his solo act, in which he turned the act of eating a single bean into a piece of high art.

As silly as those segments may sound, they were huge hits with the crowd and testaments to Rhett and Link’s creative ability. Throughout the show, the duo showed off spur-of-the-moment inspiration to breathe life into their bits. In some moments, like when they wrote and performed songs based on common pet peeves for dads, Rhett and Link seemed more like improvisational actors than YouTubers.

That off-the-cuff spirit is one secret behind the success of GMM. Rhett and Link’s previous output relied as much on visual flair as it did on hilarious lines. That formula worked, at least on YouTube, but the pivot to a morning show fully focused the spotlight on the two titular stars — and they were clearly ready for their close-up.

A trio of R-rated live shows gave Rhett and Link a chance to prove that their more personal approach to YouTube could translate to an in-person format. The success of those live events led to the Good Mythical Tour, which is adding two more dates after completing its initial nine-city run. Mythical Beasts in Dallas and Houston can get tickets for shows in November on the official Mythical Entertainment website.

As they hit the road once again, Rhett and Link will continue to expand the company that launched out of their shared morning show. Mythical has served its Beasts with a gathering called MythiCon and plenty of merch. Rhett and Link are also lifting up their fellow creators with an investment program that has backed videomakers like Daniel Thrasher and The Sorry Girls.

The end result of all that development is a media company that builds TV-quality programming around its two founders. YouTube CEO Neal Mohan thinks that Rhett and Link deserve an Emmy. If you disagree, check out the Dallas and Houston legs of the Good Mythical Tour. At the end of the night, you might be singing a different tune.

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It’s been less than a year since Bindery Books launched its first digital book clubs, but the audacious startup is already moving forward with the next phase of its operations.

As it looks to harness the power of the #BookTok community, Bindery is signing a deal with Atlas Literary and Independent Artist Group. The agreement will see screen adaptations for projects that come out of Bindery’s development pipeline.

Bindery works with literary influencers on TikTok, who partner with the startup to launch their own publishing imprints. The imprints double as book clubs, where fans of the influencers in question can gather to discuss the titles that see release through Bindery.

Last November, Bindery announced the first four pickups to come out of that innovative model. BookTok star Jaysen “Ezeekat” Headley published a “cozy fantasy” through his imprint, while Kathryn Budig‘s Inky Phoenix Press threw its weight behind a gothic mystery named Strange Beasts.

Bindery’s initial slate is still in production, but that hasn’t stopped the startup from planning screen adaptations that will inevitably follow the publication of its books. Atlas Literary is a subsidiary of Atlas Entertainment, a firm that has financed Hollywood productions like the 2017 blockbuster Wonder Woman and the recent Best Picture winner Oppenheimer.

Independent Artist Group (IAG) has its own ties to the BookTok-to-screen pipeline. A press release from Bindery notes that IAG’s Media Rights department has packaged several best-selling books. It has participated in the process that will result in an Amazon Studios adaptation for Fourth Wing, the “romantasy” novel that broke out after becoming a BookTok favorite.

In addition to its latest deal, Bindery also has a first-look agreement with the J.J. Abrams-founded studio Bad Robot.

“This new generation of tastemakers has their pulse on the stories people want, allowing us to surface those trends with more immediacy,” said Bindery Co-Founder and CEO Matt Kaye in a statement. “Atlas Literary and IAG share our vision for the future of publishing and entertainment. I couldn’t be more thrilled to work with them to take these incredible stories to the next level.”

Bindery’s initial pickups are due out in the fall of 2024. The projects included in its second development slate are expected to see release in the spring of 2025.

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Over the next 11 weeks, Swifties on TikTok are going to be quite busy. The ByteDance-owned app is launching an in-app experience themed around Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour, which began in March 2023 and is ongoing.

Each week, TikTok will offer exclusive T.S.-inspired features that will be collected under the hashtag #TSTheErasTour. Fans can access that content by tapping an “anchor” that will appear next to Taylor Swift content on TikTok.

By completing weekly tasks inspired by the Eras Tour star, fans will gain access to a special profile frame and a virtual “friendship bracelet” filled with references to Swift’s records. Other goodies will include video highlights from the Eras Tour and playlists themed around specific Taylor Swift albums.

Swift only joined TikTok in 2021, but she has since brought her follower count on the platform from zero to 32 million. The Washington Post notes that the TikTok hashtags #TheTorturedPoetsDepartment, #SwiftTok, and #TaylorsVersion have each been used on more than two million videos.

“Taylor Swift, I would argue, is the most famous person and the biggest name in the entire world right now,” pop music creator Ari Elkins told the Post. “It makes 100 percent sense for apps and brands to associate with Taylor, because Taylor brings eyes to everything she touches.”

TikTok already partnered with Swift for an in-app showcase featuring her newest album, The Tortured Poets Department. That activation went live despite a then-ongoing disagreement between TikTok and Swift’s label UMG. Some of the singer-songwriter’s catalog was available on TikTok even during that dispute.

It seems as if each major social platform is looking to attract Swifties with its own suite of Tay-inspired perks. YouTube Shorts was the home for the “Anti-Hero Challenge” back in the Midnights era, Disney+ is the official streaming home of the Eras Tour, Instagram launched a host of easter eggs tied to The Tortured Poets Department, and Elon Musk has asked Swift to post concert footage on X. Bluesky even got a boost with a feed that is free of Swift and her fans. Maybe TikTok will try that next.

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If you’ve ever wanted to connect with your favorite streaming shows in the real world, get ready: The first Netflix House is set to open within the next year. That’s the name Netflix has given to a series of entertainment complexes that will feature attractions, foodstuffs, and shops inspired by its programming.

The first two Netflix Houses are slated to open in 2025. They will both be located within shopping malls in two of America’s largest metropolitan areas: Dallas and Philadelphia. Both the location at Dallas’ Galleria and the one in Pennsylvania’s King of Prussia Mall will include more than 100,000 square feet of space, according to Variety.

Diversions found within the Netflix Houses will include music from shows like Bridgerton, restaurants featuring Netflix-inspired dishes, and attractions that will look familiar to viewers of Netflix’s most-watched programs. (Squid Game glass bridge, anyone?) Of course, plenty of space will be allocated for retail storefronts. The Netflix Houses will add an IRL element to the streamer’s existing merch operation.

Netflix has been teasing IRL entertainment destinations since last year, when it expressed its intention to design and open experiences that bring its greatest hits to fans across the country. The first two Netflix House locations will join the IRL activations Netflix has already launched. Two holiday seasons ago, it offered themed merch at a temporary exhibition in Los Angeles. A few months later, it served the foodies in its community with a pop-up called Netflix Bites.

“At Netflix House, you can enjoy regularly updated immersive experiences, indulge in retail therapy, and get a taste — literally — of your favorite Netflix series and films through unique food and drink offerings,” said Netflix CMO Marian Lee in a statement. “We’ve launched more than 50 experiences in 25 cities, and Netflix House represents the next generation of our distinctive offerings. The venues will bring our beloved stories to life in new, ever-changing and unexpected ways.”

Netflix is hoping that its new entertainment destinations will help it find new subscribers as it combats skepticism from Wall Street and shareholders. It would be a good idea for Netflix to open its Houses before its biggest hit — Stranger Things — returns for its final season. The sci-fi series is expected to launch its fifth season in early 2025.

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June is the month of YouTube record-breakers. Two weeks after MrBeast became the most-subscribed channel on YouTube, Justin Flom has notched a fine accomplishment of his own. One of the magician’s YouTube Shorts uploads — a quick-change dress trick from 2022 — has become the most-watched video on Shorts.

Flom’s top Short has received more than 1.58 billion views since its initial upload date. The clip features the magician and his wife Anna, who reveals three dresses before ending up with a classic, Cinderella-style Disney princess look. If you’ve ever seen a quick change act on a variety show or at halftime of a basketball game, then Anna’s rapid-fire outfit transformations will look familiar.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ldSVhw1Nv50

“I am thrilled and humbled by the overwhelming response,” Flom said in a statement. “My videos are about sharing wonder and sparking moments of joy, and to see so many people around the world enjoying and sharing this moment is truly special.”

In total, Flom has uploaded 59 YouTube Shorts videos with at least 100 million views apiece. Even by his high standards, the clip embedded above is in a class of its own. Its view count is nearly three times higher than any other video posted by its creator.

Flom uploaded his record-breaking Cinderella video just one day after we profiled him in our weekly Tubefilter charts. His short-form prowess has only increased since then; on several occasions, he has gotten more weekly views than any other U.S.-based YouTube channel.

So what lesson can creators take from Flom’s most viral video? The chart-topping creator recently appeared on Tubefilter‘s  Creator Upload podcast, where he discussed the strategies he has used to conquer YouTube Shorts. Like many of the stars who appear regularly in our Top 50 charts, Flom is a diligent student of the YouTube algorithm who uses data-driven analysis to stay on top of the ever-shifting Shorts format.

Oh — and Flom is still a full-time magician, too. The man who conquered YouTube Shorts offers more information about his act on his website.

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New streaming platform Animation+ has tapped top YouTube animators like MeatCanyon, ExplosmEntertainment, Flashgitz, Pencilmation, and Jarrad Wright for deals that offer them “real equity participation in the studio, along with real television budgets” to produce 10 original series for Animation+’s premium adult animation channel.

That’s according to Evan Weiss, co-founder of Animation+ parent company Streaming Ink Media (SIM).

“We are actualizing ‘creator economy’ in our business model and our business affairs,” he added.

Weiss co-founded Streaming Ink Media with John Fitzpatrick in 2022; the two met while working with creators at Studio71 and Collective Digital Studio. Both worked on Fred: The Movie (there’s a throwback for YouTube oldies), and Fitzpatrick went on to work with Explosm Entertainment to secure crowdfunding/distribution deals for properties like Cyanide & Happiness. Weiss is also a former business affairs exec at Disney who ran United Talent Agency‘s TV packaging department for seven years.

The fleet of digital content creators they’ve brought in–many of whom have been self-producing animations on YouTube for years now–will develop a slate of originals for Animation+, which launched its debut FAST channel on Samsung TV Plus last week. The plan is for them to develop 10 full-length animated series, plus one “feature project”–and, as mentioned above, they’ll get equity and production resources from SIM as part of the deal.

“We believe that creators like MeatCanyon, Explosm Studios, Jarrad Wright, Flashgitz and many other creators we have deals with are responsible for the most popular, relevant and outrageously funny content currently being produced anywhere,” Weiss and Fitzpatrick said in a joint statement. “Animation+ premium will give these and other creators a platform and resources to create full-length series and features delivered via OTT/CTV in beautiful full-sized resolution to a television audience hungry for premium content in this popular genre.”

“We’ve known the Animation+ founders for well over a decade, and we’re excited to be part of their vision to bring some of our favorite creators together. As huge animation fans, we’re stoked,” Explosm Entertainment’s Rob Denbleyker, Dave McElfatrick, and Kris Wilson said in a joint statement.

Tom Hinchcliffe and Don Greger, aka Flashgitz, chimed in, “A lot of the major streaming platforms are afraid to take risks on edgier content nowadays despite audiences being just as hungry for it as ever. A+ is providing us a platform to tell our stories without interference and make our fans laugh.,”

SIM plans to launched the adult animation channel into beta in Q4 of this year, with a full rollout in 2025.

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One of the top streamers on YouTube has inked a new representation deal. Lily Ki, the creator known across her channels as Lilypichu, has signed with the Creative Artists Agency (CAA).

Across all of her social channels, Lilypichu reaches more than 10 million followers. She is particularly active on YouTube, where her streams and on-demand videos reach more than three million subscribers.

She first broke out on Twitch, where she rose to prominence alongside members of the creator group OfflineTV. Boosted by her broadcasts, she became one of the most-watched female streamers on the platform. YouTube, impressed by her rising influence, wooed her away from Twitch with a multi-million dollar exclusive contract.

Though some streamers have returned to Twitch after the expiration of their YouTube contracts, Lilypichu is still plugging away on the platform that poached her. “Lilypichu is an incredibly talented entertainer, and we are so excited to build, create and collaborate on new opportunities together,” said CAA Digital Media Agent Matthew Tsai.

Lilypichu’s successes have gone beyond her on-screen appearances. Her distinctive voice makes her instantly recognizable, and she has shown up as a voice actor in video games like Genshin Impact, Legends of Runeterra, and Eternal Return: Black Survival.

Her multi-hyphenate accolades also extend to her career as a musician. In 2022, she hosted her first in-person concert in Los Angeles. Her singles include “Dreamy Night,” which has scored more than 50 million streams on Spotify.

Lilypichu’s brand collaborations have included partnerships with brands like MiHoYo, Sennheiser, Riot Games, Uno Mobile, and Marvel Snap. She appeared in a commercial for 5Gum, starring in a spot that was distributed across TV and digital platforms. She has also launched a line of plushies called Lil’ Beans.

CAA’s expanding digital division will provide Lilypichu with the support she needs to unlock even more opportunities. The talent agency’s other recently-signed clients include  Jaiden Animations, Reesa Teesa, and Justin Watkins of ThinkNoodles.

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Details from Jimmy Donaldson‘s legal battle against Virtual Dining Concepts have revealed some of the creator’s plans for the coming year. One of Donaldson’s court filings reveals that the MrBeast brand plans to expand in 2025 with several new ventures, including a beverage brand and a mobile game.

Last year, Donaldson sued Virtual Dining Concepts, which had served as his partner for the ghost kitchen venture MrBeast Burger. Among other allegations, Donaldson claimed that VDC harmed his personal brand by sacrificing order quality as it pursued rapid expansion.

Now, we have an idea of some other products that Donaldson wants to stamp with his MrBeast seal of approval. According to Insider, court documents indicate that two exciting ventures are on the way.

The upcoming mobile game, which will be monetized with a mix of in-app purchases and ads, will continue Donaldson’s work in the gaming industry. He previously attached his name to challenges in casual titles like Top Troops and Stumble Guys.

The mentioned consumable brand, which could be named “Beast Beverages,” would be an intriguing bet for Donaldson and his staff. Several other creators who rival MrBeast’s immense stature — including Emma Chamberlain and Ninja — have made money moves by partnering with existing beverage brands or launching their own. The most notable bet of that variety came from former boxing rivals Logan Paul and KSI, who turned Prime Hydration into a grocery store hit in 2022.

Prime’s recent slump may raise questions about why Donaldson wants to expand his already strong presence in the consumables sector (especially if quality is a concern). But even if Prime sales are slipping, I wouldn’t bet against MrBeast in the free market. His recent charge up the YouTube leaderboards, which saw him get 1.3 billion YouTube views in a single week, was a reminder that he has risen to an unprecedented level of influence.

Donaldson is looking to leverage that influence through a variety of products, and the two named in the court documents won’t be the beginning or end of that plan. Jeffrey Housenbold, a veteran of VC firm SoftBank, was recently hired to lead the company now known as Beast Industries.

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TikTok‘s new app resembles old-school Instagram. The ByteDance-owned platform has quietly launched Whee, a new app that lets users share photos among close friends.

Whee has not yet received an official launch, but Artem Russakovskii — the founder of tech outlet Android Police — noticed the app and posted about it on X. Russakovskii noted that Whee is live in “over a dozen countries,” including Australia, Turkey, Thailand, and Pakistan.

The United States, however, is not on that list. For now, Americans who are curious about the new app will need to find other means to access it.

Am I the first one to report this? Bytedance, the developer of Tiktok, is testing a new app called Whee. It’s currently not available in the US but it is live in over a dozen countries.https://t.co/iNVQlVQ5C2https://t.co/n9rKnrHovE

— Artem Russakovskii (@ArtemR) June 18, 2024

The Google Play page for Whee describes it as a hub filled with “real-life photos that only your friends can see.” TikTok is listed as the app’s publisher, and at the time of this post, Whee’s most recent update went live on June 7.

Whee reads as TikTok’s response to Instagram’s increasing focus on video. Instagram Head Adam Mosseri has said on several occasions that his app has no choice but to show more videos, as it must follow the direction set by user interest. That reasoning has not sat well with users who miss the good old days, when Instagram was defined by its photo-based milieu. Several apps have already tried to recreate that experience, and Whee is one of the latest attempts.

TikTok has already debuted an app that mimics Instagram in crucial ways. Earlier this year, the app teased TikTok Notes, which it described as a “new app for photo posts” that is “coming soon.”

While U.S.-based users wait for these new apps to arrive Stateside, they can follow TikTok’s progress in its legal battle against the U.S. government. The app is developing its arguments as it prepares for a September 16 court date.

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[Editor’s Note: Tubefilter Charts is a weekly rankings column from Tubefilter with data provided by GospelStats. It’s exactly what it sounds like: a top number ranking of YouTube channels based on statistics collected within a given time frame. Check out all of our Tubefilter Charts with new installments every week right here.]

The top channel in our U.S. ranking got nearly 50% fewer views compared to its total from that week. The reason it still leads the Global Top 50 is because last week’s sum was so darn high.

All five of this week’s Chart Toppers managed at least a half-billion views. Here are some more details:

Chart Toppers

MrBeast experienced a bit of a hangover after smashing multiple records at the start of June, but even “MrBeast experiencing a viewership decline” is a bigger draw than any other U.S.-based YouTube channel. Jimmy Donaldson pulled in 710.5 million weekly views during the second week of June. That was 46% less traffic than the amount he earned during the first week of the month, when MrBeast became the most-subscribed channel of YouTube and the first channel to get more than one billion weekly views during the 2024 calendar year. With 283 million subscribers hanging onto every update, more big numbers are in MrBeast’s future.

The #2 channel in the U.S. Top 50 is moving in the opposite direction from MrBeast. As Donaldson’s viewership on his main hub subsides, Alan Chicken Chow‘s traffic is trending up. The California-based comedian collected 671.2 million weekly views to move from fifth place to second in our star-spangled ranking. Chow’s weekly viewership rose by 37%. More details about his big week can be found in our roundup of the Global Top 50.

MaviGadget is up next in the U.S. Top 50. Aside from MrBeast, this tool-focused channel is one of two top-five hubs that regularly ascends to the #1 position (the other channel in question is coming up at #5). This week, MaviGadget had to settle for third place even though its library of short-form content amassed 520.6 million weekly views. The Shorts standout has achieved a round number milestone with 30 million subscribers, and it will add the “30 billion lifetime views” achievement to its belt sometime this summer.

J House jr. is in fourth place in the U.S. Top 50. In a short-form meta defined by family-friendly program, J House jr. has come on strong with an agreeable lineup of YouTube Shorts uploads. Preschool-age viewers have flocked to those clips, which picked up 506.7 million views during the week that was. Performances like that have become typical for J House jr. over the past few months. By raising its YouTube traffic by 19% week-over-week, it moved from sixth place to fourth while approaching four billion lifetime views.

Toys and Colors rounds out this week’s U.S. top five. With content that looks a lot like the videos you’d find on J House jr., this kid-friendly upstart added 500.8 million weekly views.

Top Gainers

Kai Cenat recently invited comedian Kevin Hart and Instagram star Druski onto his stream for a broadcast that ended up breaking records on Twitch. The collab made some hay on a different platform as well. On YouTube, viral moments from Cenat’s streams have brought millions of viewers to the Bronx-based creator’s secondary channel, Kai Cenat Live.

As its name implies, Kai Cenat Live is filled with full-length stream VODs, highlight reels, and clips from Cenat’s broadcasts. In a slightly ironic twist, the shortest snippets of Cenat’s long-form streams get more views than the reuploaded styreams themselves. One clip, which features a typical bit of banter between Cenat and fellow streamer iShowSpeed, has been seen more than 53 million times on YouTube.

iShowSpeed isn’t the only prominent creator who shows up in the most-watched Kai Cenat Live clips. Other celebs who have chopped it up alongside Cenat include rapper Ice Spice, Cenat’s good friend Ray, and yes, Kevin Hart.

Thanks in part to its powerful guest cast, Kai Cenat Live ranked 43rd in the most recent U.S. Top 50. The streamer’s secondary channel received 110.8 million weekly views. That was good for an 18% week-over-week increase that pushed Kai Cenat Live from 60th place up to its current position. The channel now has more than three billion lifetime views in all.

Cenat is currently in the midst of a bullish era, even by his lofty standards. Since he’s still the biggest star on Twitch, we’ll be paying attention to see if Kai Cenat Live can move any higher in our U.S. Top 50.

Channel Distribution

This week, there are 38 YouTube Shorts channels in the U.S. Top 50.

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[Editor’s Note: Tubefilter Charts is a weekly rankings column from Tubefilter with data provided by GospelStats. It’s exactly what it sounds like: a top number ranking of YouTube channels based on statistics collected within a given time frame. Check out all of our Tubefilter Charts with new installments every week right here.]

Scroll down for this week’s Tubefilter Chart. 👇

Last week, MrBeast delivered a record-breaking performance in our charts. Thanks to the added traffic he drew after he eclipsed T-Series as YouTube’s most-subscribed channel, Jimmy Donaldson earned an unheard-of 1.3 billion weekly views.

This week, however, we’re going back to our standard programming in the Global Top 50, which features Indian channels in two of the top four spots.

Chart Toppers

Anaya Kandhal was YouTube’s most-watched creator in both April and May, and if the current chart results hold, Kandhal might rule our rankings in June as well. The star of a titular family channel entertained her 33.5 million subscribers with a fresh batch of Shorts uploads during the second week of June. Kandhal’s predominantly South Asian audience powered her to a total of 827.4 million weekly views. Those heights aren’t as high as the ones MrBeast reached last week, but they were lofty enough to claim the #1 spot in the Global Top 50.

ToRung is second in this week’s Global Top 50. Since the start of the year, the Vietnamese comedian has become a fixture near the front of our worldwide ranking. He has been boosted by the universal nature of comedy content (and by the ridiculous thumbnails that invite viewers to find out WTF ToRung is up to). With those assets at his disposal, Vietnam’s sole representative in the Global Top 50 collected 710.7 million weekly views. There’s nothing funny about that viewership, even if the creator receiving it is a whole barrel of laughs.

MrBeast followed up his record-breaking week with a third-place finish in the Global Top 50. Seven days after registering a weekly total of more than 1.3 billion views, Donaldson lost 46% of his traffic to wind up with 710.5 million weekly views. That total put him just a fraction behind ToRung, who was able to fend off America’s top creator for the #2 spot. Maybe some of the subscribers who helped MrBeast catch T-Series aren’t that interested in his channel after all, though I’m sure the majority of his 283 million subs are still fond of his big-budget videos.

T-Series is in fourth place in the Global Top 50. The Indian record label is occupying the same chart position it landed in last week, and it’s the first time this year that T-Series has spent two consecutive weeks outside of the top three. In an era defined by short-form dominance, T-Series is having a hard time keeping up with our chart leaders, even when it gets 707 million weekly views. With a slight upward boost, T-Series could move as high as #2 next week, though it looks like MrBeast’s reign as YouTube’s subscriber king is here to stay.

Alan Chikin Chow rounds out this week’s global top five. In the Top Gainers section below, we’ll break down Chow’s YouTube viewership and the tactics he has employed on his way to a string of top-five finishes.

Top Gainers

Readers who have been following our rankings over the past few years will no doubt recognize Alan Chikin Chow as a perennial chart-topper. The California-based comedy creator was one of the first breakout stars of the Shorts era, and some of his strategies have become best practices for creators who hope to capitalize on the promise of short-form viewership.

Some of the short-form stars who crack our charts are YouTube legends (Ray William Johnson, anyone?) Chow, however, is the perfect example of a “new school” YouTube star. He only launched his channel in 2020, but he quickly found himself as a main draw on the buzziest YouTube format in the exploding creator economy.

For Chow, adaptability is the best ability. “The work I put in from taking my team’s advice full-on and posting content that I actually love to make has been my formula for success,” he told Tubefilter back in 2021. “Every other week, I’m creatively trying different video formats and approaches to connect with viewers. It’s been great!”

When we conducted that interview with Chow, he had about seven million subscribers. Now he reaches more than 45 million of them, and he’s had several spells as the #1 channel in our charts. He’s not quite ranked that high this week, but he achieved a fifth-place finish after collecting 671.2 million weekly views. That was 37% more traffic than Chow’s total from the previous week, and he moved up four spots in our ranking as a result.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=2ONo4fpnhII

Given the size of Chow’s following, there’s no doubt we’ll see him in the Global Top 50 for weeks to come. The only question is whether he’ll show up with similar videos to the ones that have worked for him before — or if, like his hair, his career will continue to change its shape.

Channel Distribution

Here’s a breakdown of the Top 50 Most Viewed channels this week in terms of their countries of origin:

• India: 16 channels in the Top 50.
• United States: 14 channels in the Top 50.
• Pakistan: 3 channels in the Top 50.
• Canada, Hong Kong, and Russia: 2 channels in the Top 50.
• Bangladesh, Belgium, China, Czechia, El Salvador, France, Japan, South Korea, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam: 1 channel each in the Top 50.

This week, 36 channels in the Top 50 are primarily active on YouTube Shorts.

As always, keep up to speed with the latest Tubefilter Charts and all of our news at Tubefilter by following us on Twitter, becoming a fan on Facebook, and watching our videos on YouTube.

Filed under: Articles, Homepage Feature, News, Statistics, statistics, Web Series, YouTube, Youtube Chart by Sam Gutelle
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